Farming in Africa

Angela Bussio is amazing! She is the President of a non-profit organization called Abundant Harvest Farms. Her vision is to help a village create a profitable farming venture. Once the farm is actually self-sustaining, she moves on to bigger and better ideas. A community center can then be created in the village with the farms profits. It will provide a school, clinic, hygenic water/food supplies, and areas to house visiting teacher, doctors, social workers, and other volunteers. She envisions no need for an orphanage because the villagers will be able to care for themselves, their families, and even an orphaned relative if needed.

The farm already has 300 acres of land with 50 cleared. Unfortunately they need to be able to farm at least 150 acres in order to start to see a profit. Anyone interested in the full story and/or wanting to help will soon be able to access their website abundantfarms.com

Enjoy a few pictures she sent me of the farm.

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

It's amazing how quickly time flies! In the past few weeks since my last post, we've met some amazing people, begun some research, tried to get organized, and taken a few days off to celebrate my graduation from Brigham Young University - with a major in Home and Family
Development and a minor in Communication Disorders in case you're wondering. Now that our foundation has been laid, it's time we get to work.
We have enjoyed getting to know Kelly Breen, the founder of WOW - Women of Wisdom. Kelly really cares about women in business. WOW seeks to ensure that women feel empowered and successful in their careers. She does this by educating women on a variety of professional topics. She has monthly seminars and quarterly conferences. What a great idea! All women should feel empowered and WOW gives them the tools to do that. I think business women everywhere will find more professional and personal success because of WOW. So with WOW's research finished last week, today I can get to work on identifing the grants that will work best for them and start writing a letter of intent that will then be sent off to those foundations tomorrow.

To Start

I like the way Ronnie thinks. He told me that he wanted "to change the world, one not-for-profit at a time." He has so many years of multi-dimensional experience with agencies, that I knew immediately it was an amazing idea. As for me, I get to use my almost newly acquired degree (two more weeks), and I get to work with my sweetheart all day, everyday. How can this not be a great business?
We've only started to put together our business plan this week and already we have gotten calls from people who need our help. I am so touched by these incredible individuals and the people and communities that they serve. We will begin researching and writing grants this week. I can't wait to get started! I'm also excited for Ronnie to be able to help consult with some of these agencies and help them strengthen their overall fund raising, work on strategic planning, and empower their boards and staff. So why am I still writing this post? I need to get to researching!